Coach travellers stranded after man leaps from vehicle

Dec 1 2010 by Brett Gibbons, Birmingham Mail

BIRMINGHAM-based travel operator National Express has been accused of leaving terrified passengers stranded after a coach was halted for more than three hours when a man tried to jump off.

The male passenger, allegedly under the influence of drugs, alarmed fellow travellers when he began shouting and threatening to kill himself on a journey from London’s Golders Green to Birmingham and Preston.

Police were called when he tried to force the door of the 52-seat single decker as it left Milton Keynes on Sunday afternoon.

Sarah Hodnett and daughters Madison, aged six, and six-month-old Abigail were among those forced to wait for more than three hours in freezing conditions until a replacement vehicle could be provided.

Husband Justin Hodnett, who was waiting for his family in Preston, said his wife and daughters were frantic.